I was wondering, earlier this morning, if the US military hasn't become even more formidable on the world stage over the past 3 years, since our fighting and supporting forces have gained a lot of experience.
Absolutely.
The NCO's are what makes things happen on the ground and they need to understand things that cannot be tought but must be experienced.
It has. Not only have individual soldiers and units gotten experience in dealing with urban and conventional fighting, but the officers have gotten time to evaluate what works and what doesn't, and training programs have been able to incorporate what has been learned.
That said, the militarys size should have been increased significantly more than it has, and if 130,000 troops are needed in Iraq, the Reserve should have only been used during the training period, with more soldiers being allowed to join the Regulars. The Reserves and NG are not designed for being kept in the field.
He was in the army several years ago, but was injured, and has spent a good part of the past few years attempting to get into shape (doctors, physical therapy, etc.) to join the military again.